3rd Downs for Kansas

This game was a statistical anomaly. KU gained 491 yards, but was 0-10 on their first 10 3rd downs, and finished 2-12. The breakdown of yards per down, per the ESPN.com provided play-by-play stats:

KU
Down / plays / yds / yds per play
1 / 37 / 371 / 10
2 / 23 / 83 / 3.6
3 / 12 / 39 / 3.25

The 3.25 yards per play on 3rd down here is a bit misleading, because on their last two third downs, while trailing 45-21 with less than 5 minutes remaining in the game, Todd Reesing completed passes of 47 and 17 yards to Dezmon Briscoe. On their first ten 3rd down conversion attempts, Kansas was 0-10 , with 3 sacks for -25 yards, a Reesing rush for no yards, an interception and five other incompletions.

A friend asked me Sunday how Kansas scored 31 points if they were so unsuccessful on 3rd down. I think the 10 yards per play on 1st down offers some insight.

Also, Jayhawk WR Dezmon Briscoe lit the Sooners up for 269 receiving yards. Let's look at his catches and receiving yards per quarter

Qtr / Catches / Yds
1 / 4 / 60
2 / 5 / 133
3 / 1 / 12
4 / 2 / 64

The two 4th quarter catches were the 3rd down receptions. Of his first 10 receptions, 9 of them were on 1st down, totalling 185 yards.